Tag Archives: buildings

Buildings worth saving? (Part 5)

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What to do with the Tennesssee Brewery?  They shut down production of Goldcrest 51 Beer a long time ago.  Built in 1890 this fortress is on Tennessee St. at Butler and is included in the CCC’s list of Top 10 Downtown buildings worth saving.  If  I were going to produce a horror film in Memphis, this would be the place for the interiors.   As you explore  {I was granted legal access on a few occasions} the building you stumble on vestiges of sets [Check out the scene in I Walk the Line , where young Johnny C goes into a  German music store to look at guitars-that’s the Brewery.] and the left over decorations from parties and galas, but a full tour of the building, up to the roof, is a ghostly experience.   You can almost feel the presence of the workers on the gothic staircases, feel the cold of the chiller room, and see the roustabouts loading barrels on wagons and trucks in the courtyard.

Tennessee Brewery, Memphis, TN

You have not seen the Memphis in May Fireworks until you have seen them from the roof.  This great building is high on my list of keepers.

Buildings worth saving? (Part 4)

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A couple of big ones

Sterick Building, 8 N Third, Memphis, TN

Perspective is everything and sometimes that perspective is looking up a skyscraper.  Both the Sterick Building, 1927, 29 stories, 365 feet, and the Sears tower at 495 Watkins are imposing buildings that lend themselves to getting close and shooting upward.    Both are listed on the CCC’s list of top 10 Buildings Downtown worth saving.

The Sterick’s  original color was light gray, from the limestone and cast concrete facade.  It’s had a few paint jobs.  I don’t know who chose the current tacky yellow and brown. This is the kind of modern Gothic building you would expect Superman to leap over in a single bound.  Go look at the details at street level.  You’ll feel like you are on a movie set.

Sears Building - 495 N Watkins, Memphis, TN

The art-deco Sears building was built in 1927 as a “suburban” retail store.  The attached warehouse shipped Sears mail order all over the Southeast.  This is a big building, over 1 Million square feet.  Is there anyone who has ever lived in Midtown who hasn’t wanted to go to the top of that tower?

Buildings worth Saving? (Part 3)

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Kress Building - 9 N Main, Memphis, TN

The Kress Building, at  9 N Main,   is described in Memphis-An Architectural Guide, by Eugene J Johnson and Robert D. Russell, Jr. as a “wild replay of Florentine Renaissance motifs in terra cotta “.  Built in 1927, the building’s  bright colors have cannot be missed as you exet Court Square  onto Mainand look southwest.

I remember one of the highlights of going Downtown as a child was going to Kress to look at the toys.  But toys were quite different back then.

Another from the CCC list of top 10 Downtown buildings worth saving.

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